The 17th edition of Careers UAE, a major annual jobs  exhibition for Emiratis, opens today (April 9) in Dubai, UAE featuring scores of public and private sector organisations preparing to meet, select and interview the best Emirati talent.

The event will run until April at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

With UAE school and university enrolment set to grow by 4.1 per cent year-on-year according to the GCC Education Industry Report, the talent pool and associated demand for new careers is on the rise. Given that nearly half attendees found employment from attending the event, Careers UAE has positioned itself as the premiere employment fair in the region.

Emirati career hopefuls are expected to walk the halls at the three-day fair, organised by DWTC, to meet top exhibitors from companies and agencies both local and international, including the UAE Armed Forces, Emirates Airline, Al Futtaim Group, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Emirates Global Aluminium, Dubai Police and the Dubai Government Human Resources Department.

Serco Group, the international service company, will be taking part in Careers UAE this year to find individuals who will embrace the core values of pride, trust, care and innovation, and who are passionate about their careers and country.  

David J. Greer OBE, CEO of Serco Middle East said: “The Middle East is a richly diverse and cultural blend of nationalities and backgrounds from all over the world.  Serco Middle East looks to embrace all aspects of this diversity with a clear focus on building a greater presence of UAE Nationals in our leadership roles, while valuing the differences of the 70 nationalities currently employed in the region.” He went on to say that, “Nationalisation continues to be a strategic imperative for Serco Middle East and we continue to invest in employing, training and developing National employees. We are looking forward to attracting and recruiting educated and ambitious young Emiratis that match our employment ethos, objectives and values.”

“Careers UAE has been designed to wholeheartedly support the vision of the UAE’s leadership and provide a broad spectrum of career development opportunities to the brightest talent across the Emirates,” said Asma Al Sharif, director of Exhibitions, Exhibitions& Events Management DWTC.

“This year, the event will host a number of features on the show floor to help UAE Nationals in their search for the perfect role. These opportunities have been created specifically with the needs of millennials in mind, who approach job searching differently to generations before them.  We have brought together companies from across the board, with a diverse range of roles in industries such as automotive, aviation, banking, construction, creative arts, education, energy, healthcare, hospitality, IT, retail, and telecommunications among others.”

Helping job seekers on the show floor, InternsME, the UAE’s largest internship job site, and Careers UAE have teamed up to bring young, bright Emirati talent face-to-face with hiring managers from some of the world’s top employers, including Palladium Group, DNV GL and Sephora at the InternsME Talent Hunt 2017. In this ‘speed interview’ format, perspective employees are exposed to a wealth of potential employers in brief, intense meetings that could end with a contract signing.  

Mission Possible, a popular feature in 2016, will also return to encourage job seekers to take part in an interactive treasure hunt which will test candidate skills and knowledge from writing CVs to interview etiquette, whilst searching for clues and offering a fantastic range of prizes.

Interactive workshops and one to one CV evaluations sessions will be hosted by Bayt.com, the online recruitment portal, while a Youth Circles Forum will outline who to empower the youth to express their opinions on employment in the UAE through a series of discussions.  The Women’s Empowerment Conference, run in partnership with Hopscotch.ae, will run on Monday 10 April, bringing 150 women to discuss the issues facing working women in the UAE today.

Also taking part in Careers UAE will be Gold Sponsors National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Strategic Government Partner Dubai Government Human Resources, Bank Sponsor Commercial Bank of Dubai, Partner UAE University as well as organisations such as Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA), Mashreq Bank PSC and UAE Armed Forces.

Careers UAE 2017 is open exclusively to UAE Nationals and HR practitioners. Female job seekers can enjoy ladies only access to the fair from 10:00 to 13:00 on April 10, a statement said. – TradeArabia News Service